Take a tour of churches from Mattituck to Orient

As part of the yearlong celebration of the Town of Southold’s 375th anniversary, 10 local churches are participating in a worship tour on Saturday. The tour, which will run between 1 and 4 p.m., is free.

“[The churches are] the basis of what the town was built around,” said Walter Jackson, a member of the 375th anniversary committee.

The churches will be decorated for the holidays, which is why the committee chose to host the event in December, and each church will feature speakers that will share the church’s history with attendees.

These histories include stories of the churches founding, like that of the Orient United Methodist Church, which was built in 1835.

“They had a pastor who used to come out in 1802 from Brooklyn,” Mr. Jackson said. “He used to ride a horse all the way out to Orient, go back to Riverhead and then ride out to East Hampton.”

Also part of the tour is the town’s oldest church, the First Presbyterian Church in Southold, which was founded by Christopher Young from Southwold, England. This church is considered the oldest Presbyterian church in the United States that’s in constant use, Mr. Jackson said.

Participants can visit any of the churches during the three-hour window, Mr. Jackson said. See the list of all those participating: